Josh Malerman is currently the “it” writer in the thriller genre. This is due primarily to the huge success of the film version of his debut novel, BIRD BOX, which released in theaters and on Netflix simultaneously last year. Starring Oscar winner Sandra Bullock, it became the most streamed movie in the first 24 hours of any film in Netflix history and propelled a paperback reissue that soared up the New York Times bestseller list.

INSPECTION, Malerman’s latest effort, is obviously influenced by so many other works while also remaining singularly unique. As I was reading it, I saw bits of classic novels like 1984 by George Orwell, BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley, NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro, and, more recently, the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.

We are introduced to one of the story’s protagonists, J, a 12-year-old boy who is about to undergo a procedure known as an Inspection. It is obvious that he and his other “classmates” are subjected to this process regularly, but we are given a limited explanation as to its objective. This is done on purpose as Malerman continues to peel back the narrative layer by layer until all is revealed by the stunning climax.

"...a modern-day dystopian masterwork that needs to be read and discussed. It also shows [Malerman's] range as a writer who can deftly skate the border between science fiction and horror while producing top-notch writing reminiscent of the finest literary thrillers."

J is then interrogated by an older male figure referred to as D.A.D. He is particularly interested in a dream J has that offers a theory as to what is outside of the Turret, the building that they all inhabit. J and his fellow classmates, named from A to Z (aka the Alphabet Boys), are kept in the Turret in the middle of a dense forest. Some can sense that there is something else to be found out in the woods, but they are just not sure what that could be.

Throughout the narrative, we get to read chapters from The Burt Report, each of which sheds some light on what is actually happening. An early report indicates that “Genius is distracted by the opposite sex.” I guess this is why J and all the Alphabet Boys are male, and the group from which they are taking the lead, the Parenthood, does not have a single female presence in their ranks. At this point, we start to realize that each of the boys is being honed to excel at a certain skill that he is able to master at genius level. The environment in which they are learning is hoping to limit any temptations that could alter their education in any way. If the children misbehave or threaten the Parenthood in some form, they are “sent to the Corner.”

Two of them, A and Z, apparently were sent to this Corner never to be seen again. D.A.D., also bearing the name Richard, has a handful of loyal members of the Parenthood who help control things. One of them is the scribe who releases articles for all to read and helps guide the students. The author, with the given name Warren Bratt, is writing something called the Needs and is struggling with his feelings that the boys should be told what is actually going on with them. Meanwhile, Richard is preparing for the Effigy, an event resembling a school science fair that allows the boys to show off their genius in a competitive environment.

At one point, J is reading something written by Warren that he believes bears some typos. Specifically, he thinks there is an extra “s” in she and wonders to what her is referring. J's curiosity forces him to examine life beyond the Turret and venture into the woods. He is eventually repaid with his curiosity in the form of an evening visitor to the window of his room, a young girl who goes by the name K. The perspective then switches from J to K, and we begin to see what is taking place in the building on the other side of the woods that houses a group of young girls. Called the Letter Girls, they are ruled by a woman named Marilyn, aka M.O.M.

It is inevitable that J and K will join forces and eventually prompt their fellow students to rise up against the Parenthood that controls them. I have seen this ending referred to as “Tarantino-like” as it does contain some violence and plenty of blood-spilling. What Josh Malerman has done with INSPECTION is to create a modern-day dystopian masterwork that needs to be read and discussed. It also shows his range as a writer who can deftly skate the border between science fiction and horror while producing top-notch writing reminiscent of the finest literary thrillers.